tt.  mo 


ff 


71.  hj-  KM     *>ff-  ' 


THE  FOURTH 


OF  THE 


MANAGERS  OF  THE  SOCIETY 


FOR  THE 


IN  THE  CITY  OF  NEW-YORK. 


Read  and  Accepted,  January,  1821. 


NEW-YORK  : 

PRINTED  BY  E.  CONRAD, 

4,  FRANKFORT-ST. 

1881, 


— o*o— 

The  Board  of  Managers,  in  presenting  their  Fourth 
Annual  Report  to  the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of 
Pauperism  in  the  City  of  New-York,  beg  leave  to  sub- 
mit the  following  facts  and  views  to  public  consideration. 

It  is  a  fundamental  principle  of  all  enlightened  go- 
vernments, that  originally  all  men  possess  equal  rights. 
In  obedience  to  the  social  principle,  and  to  promote 
the  common  good,  society  is  formed,  civil  institutions 
established,  and  political  improvements  introduced, 
until  the  whole  social  system  is  constructed,  and  all 
the  grand  machinery  of  civil  society  is  in  full  and  har- 
monious operation.  It  is  the  necessary,  though  not  the 
less  salutary  tendency  of  this  beautiful  system,  however, 
to  take  away  that  original  equality,  which  was  the 
birth-right  of  all,  and  to  create  among  individuals,  dis.- 
tinctions  in  rank,  fortune  and  happiness. 

With  the  increase  of  population,  these  distinctions 
have  widened  and  multiplied.  As  the  social  system 
has  become  more  complex  and  extended,  evils  have 
arisen,  which  were  not  apprehended  at  earlier  stages  of 
national  existence.  Extremes  of  affluence  and  indigence 
are  among  those  evils,  under  every  form  of  govern- 
ment; for  they  have  invariably  engendered  luxury 
dangerous  to  the  state,  and  produced  individual  dis- 
tress and  moral  ruin.  The  extreme  of  poverty,  how- 
ever, is  justly  considered  by  its  unfortunate  subjects,  of 


all  evils  the  most  intolerable ;  and  it  is  certainly  one  of 
alarming  magnitude  where  it  exists.  Under  the  most 
perfect  forms  of  human  society,  therefore,  want  and 
suffering  will  ever  require  aid  from  charity,  and  con- 
solation from  christian  benevolence.  To  extend  these, 
is  the  great  business  of  every  institution,  professedly 
humane.  But  while  we  admire  that  beneficent  spi- 
rit which  alleviates  the  weight  of  poverty  by  alms,  be 
it  our  study  to  exemplify  a  similar  disposition  in  the 
prevention  of  future  want. 

In  the  history  of  every  government,  a  time  has  been, 
when  pauperism  Avas  not  considered  a  subject  of  suf- 
ficient importance  to  excite  public  anxiety;  but  its 
causes,  for  a  long  time  secretly,  though  always  active, 
have  at  last  awakened  general  alarm  in  almost  every 
nation.  In  several  countries  in  Europe,  and  particu- 
larly in  England,  this  subject  has  for  ages  been  viewed 
by  the  wise  and  good,  as  vitally  affecting,  not  only 
their  domestic  tranquillity,  but  the  safety  of  their  insti- 
tutions, and  the  existence  of  their  government.  Ac- 
cordingly, her  best  and  ablest  men  have  regarded  the 
sources  and  prevention  of  pauperism,  as  demanding 
their  profoundest  investigation.  They  have  written, 
debated,  and  filled  their  statute  books  with  laws  to  re- 
medy this  national  evil.  We  enjoy  the  benefits  of  their 
writings  and  experience ;  and-  from  their  example,  let 
us  take  warning,  sedulously  to  prosecute  the  best  sys- 
tems for  the  melioration  of  the  condition  of  the  poor. 

The  same  dangerous  consequences  of  pauperism  in 
Europe,  need  not,  however,  be  apprehended  in  this 
country,  only  in  degree ;  for  our  territory  is  so  expan- 
sive, its  soil  so  prolific,  that  the  American  population, 
and  the  people  of  Europe  cannot,  for  ages,  bear  the 


yjffle  ratio  to  their  respective  means  of  subsistence.  Our 
great  cities  early  feel  the  evils  of  pauperism. — Here  the 
increase  of  indolence,  poverty  and  mendicity  first  ap- 
pears. But  when  wc  look  abroad  and  contemplate  the. 
extent  and  fertility  of  our  country ;  the  immense  domain 
which  is  still  open  to  easy  and  successful  cultivation ; 
when  wc  reflect  upon  the  trilling  public  burdens  that 
are  imposed  upon  the  citizen  ;  the  freedom  of  our  civil 
institutions;  and  the  protection  and  equal  rights  which 
they  guarantee  to  every  class  of  the  community — we 
might  naturally  incline  to  the  belief  that  pauperism 
would  be  foreign  to  our  condition.  That  it  should  be 
incident  to  older  countries,  governing  a  crowded  popu- 
lation by  unequal  laws,  neglecting  early  education,  and 
maintaining  arbitrary  distinctions  in  society,  can  excite 
no  wonder.  But  that  the  same  calamity,  to  any  consi- 
derable extent,  should  be  found  in  a  nation  exhibiting, 
in  these  respects,  the  complete  reverse  of  such  a  pic- 
ture, is  matter  of  astonishment  and  regret.  The  evil, 
however,  has  not  yet  become  so  extensive  and  remedi- 
less as  to  baffle  all  attempts  for  its  suppression.  Con- 
sidering the  facilities  to  reform,  also  afforded  by  our 
representative  system,  the  general  intelligence  and 
moral  sentiments  of  the  community,  we  have  reason  to 
expect,  that,  in  its  early  stages,  it  will  receive  that  ade- 
quate attention,  which  a  sacred  regard  for  the  purity 
and  happiness  of  society  demands. 

In  order  to  remedy  evils,  we  must  first  know  that 
they  exist;  and  then  investigate  their  causes.  And 
that  man,  who.  from  pure  motives,  perseveres  In  his  un- 
dertaking to  reform  the  immoral  practices,  improve  the 
condition,  and  elevate  the  character  of  his  countrymen, 
may  be  justly  styled  a  moral  hero.    Unmoved  by  the 


[    I  '  j 

denunciations  of  the  wicked,  the  menaces  ot'  the  proud, 
and  the  obloquy  of  the  vulgar,  he  is  compelled  in  the 
prosecution  of  his  work,  however  unpleasant  the  task 
may  be,  to  exhibit  the  extent  and  sources  of  human 
degeneracy,  and  to  spread  before  the  public  eye,  the 
various  vices  which  degrade  the  most  abandoned  of  his 
species. 

To  investigate,  correct,  and  prevent  moral  evils  in 
this  metropolis,  this  institution  was  established.  It 
therefore  becomes  a  duty  to  speak  with  freedom ;  and 
the  managers  now  proceed  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
society,  to  those  sources  of  pauperism,  which  attracted 
notice  during  the  last  year.  They  may  be  classed  under 
the  following  heads,  viz: 

h  INTEMPERANCE, 

2.  IGNORANCE, 

Q.  CRIMINAL  PROSECUTIONS, 

4.  CONDITION  OF  PRISONS, 

5.  GAMBLING-HOUSES, 

6.  PARDONS, 

7.  LOTTERIES, 

8.  WANT  OF  CLEANLINESS, 

9.  EMIGRATION, 

10.  IDLENESS  AND  WANT  OF  EMPLOYMENT. 

First.  Intemperance. — This  may  be  considered  the 
most  productive  source  of  human  wretchedness,  in  all 
its  complicated  forms.  Perhaps  war  and  pestilence  do 
not  destroy  a  greater  number  of  victims,  than  are  sacri- 
ficed by  strong  drink;  certainly  they  produce  no  moral 
devastation  so  appalling,  as  that  which  follows  the  in- 
temperate use  of  ardent  spirits.  Those  are  relentless 
agents,  commissioned  by  the  Almighty,  to  chastise  the 
nations;  armed  with  his  justice,  they  quickly  execute 
their  fatal  work,  and  peace  and  health  return  upon  the 


[       7  ] 

earth.    Not  so  with  the  progress  of  intemperance. — 
This  becomes  a  disease  of  lingering,  but  certain  death, 
to  both  soul  and  body — spreading  poverty,  guilt,  pain, 
sorrow  and  disgrace,  throughout  all  the  march  of  its 
downward  career.    The  once  rich  and  noble,  it  levels 
with  the  brute  creation.    Among  the  poor,  it  begets 
every  crime  that  enters  into  the  catalogue  of  human 
offences.  Self-respect  it  first  obliterates  from  the  mind  ; 
then  blunts  and  destroys  the  moral  sense,  by  banishing 
hope  and  memory,  and  enkindling  the  fiercest  passions 
in  the  bosom ;  it.  breaks  every  social  and  kindred  tie ; 
ruins  the  constitution;  drowns  mental  energy,  and 
blasts  domestic  happiness.    Where  is  the  parent,  bro- 
ther, child,  friend  or  stranger,  who,  pointing  to  some 
melancholy  instance  of  the  direful  ruins  of  intempe- 
rance, within  the  circle  of  his  own  kindred  or  acquaint- 
ance, would  not,  in  the  mute  eloquence  of  his  afflicted 
heart,  furnish  ample  testimony  of  the  truth  of  this  de- 
scription ! 

During  the  last  year,  the  evils  of  intemperance  have 
not  diminished.  Judging  from  the  relative  number  of 
licenses  granted  in  each  of  the  three  last  years,  there 
has  been  a  great  increase  in  the  consumption  of  ardent 
spirits  within  the  year  just  ended.  By  the  most  accu- 
rate computation,  there  are  1680  licenses  for  retailing 
ardent  spirits,  in  actual  force,  in  the  city  of  New- York ; 
making  an  average  of  one  tippling-house  to  every  four- 
teen houses  in  this  metropolis.  And  by  adopting  the 
mode  of  calculation  used  by  the  managers  for  the  year 
1819,  to  ascertain  the  sum  annually  expended  in  New- 
York,  in  the  consumption  of  spiritous  liquors,  we  ar- 
rive at  the  frightful  result,  that,  in  1820,  the  sum  of 
S  1,893,011  was  squandered  in  the  use  of  this  single 


r .  «  i  • 

article !  And  this,  too,  principally  among  that  portion 
of  our  population,  who  are  destitute  of  any  permanent 
means  of  support,  depending  upon  manual  labor  for  their 
daily  bread. 

Although  from  this  statement,  the  desolating  tide  of 
intemperance  seems  to  have  been  expanding  during  the 
past  year,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  this  institution,  se- 
conded as  they  have  been  by  some  of  our  constituted 
authorities,  to  resist  its  progress;  yet  the  managers  arc 
happy  to  state,  that  they  have  ascertained  some  facts 
on  this  subject,  interesting  to  the  public;  and  most, 
clearly  showing  that,  in  this  metropolis,  the  connexion 
between  the  evil  under  consideration,  and  the  commis- 
sion of  a  great  portion  of  the  minor  offences  which 
occupy  our  civil  and  criminal  courts,  is  so  close  and 
intimate,  that  in  proportion  as  the  use  of  ardent  spi- 
rits extends,  crimes  multiply,  and  vice  versa.  There- 
cords  of  the  Court  of  Sessions  show,  that,  as  the  number 
of  licenses  has  been  augmented,  assaults  and  batte- 
ries have  multiplied ;  and  when  the  former  has  been 
diminished,  the  latter  have  decreased.  The  whole 
number  of  complaints  for  assaults  and  batteries,  during 
the  last  year,  was  1061.  During  the  first  six  months 
of  that  year,  the  number  was  409;  in  the  last  six  months 
652.  Here  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  about  180  new 
licenses  were  granted  in  the  early  part  of  those  last 
six  months,  in  the  absence  of  the  mayor. 

The  relation  of  cause  and  effect  is  here  so  apparent, 
that  there  can  be  no  mistake.  The  managers,  there- 
fore, declare  it  as  their  belief,  that  the  multiplication 
of  licenses,  promotes  intemperate  drinking  among  the 
poorer  classes,  and  that  the  growing  use  of  ardent 
spirits,  swells  the  catalogue  of  criminal  offences.  And 


£    *  } 

by  recurring  to  the  official  statement  of  complaints  and 
indictments  which  have  been  presented  to  the  Court  of 
Sessions,  since  the  1st  of  January  1820,  it  appears  that 
shortly  after  the  granting  of  the  180  additional  licenses, 
there  was  a  great  accumulation  of  offences  within  the 
cognizance  of  that  court.    On  the  whole,  therefore, 
the  managers  have  no  hesitation  in  saying,  that,  by  re- 
ducing: the  number  of  licenses,  most  of  the  dangerous 
and  shameful  effects  of  intemperance  would  gradually 
subside ;  thousands  of  property  would  be  saved  to  in- 
dividuals and  to  the  6tate ;  the  character  of  the  city 
would  be  elevated;  our  criminal  courts  find  less  to  do; 
our  jails,  bridewell,  penitentiary  and  state  prisons,  be 
less  burdened ;  our  poor  houses  would  become  less 
numerous;  all  our  various  infirmaries  would  not  long 
remain  the  abodes  of  so  much  want,  suffering,  despair 
and  madness.    In  short,  human  nature  would  not  so 
frequently  appear  in  that  most  deplorable  and  terrific 
attitude,  "  without  hope,  and  without  God  in  the 
world." 

It  is  important  to  notice  fn  this  place,  another  inte- 
resting fact,  which  has  fallen  under  the  observation  of 
the  managers,  and  one  that  may  serve  to  correct  a  very 
erroneous,  though  a  very  common  opinion.  It  has  long 
been  imagined  that  the  laboring  classes  could  not  sus- 
tain themselves  under  the  weight  of  their  daily  em- 
ployments, and  especially  in  founderies  and  large  ma- 
nufacturing establishments,  where  they  are  much  ex- 
posed to  heat,  and  breathe  a  confined  atmosphere, 
without  the  regular  use  of  ardent  spirits.  The  results 
of  an  important  experiment  made  during  the  last  sea- 
son, by  Mr.  James  P.  Allaire,  and  by  him  communicated 
to  the  board,  establish  the  fallacy  of  this  opinion. 


[    1"  3 

Mr.  Allaire  is  the  proprietor  of  a  large  foundry  at 
Corlaer's-Hook.  During  the  last  season  he  employed 
upwards  of  sixty  workmen,  more  than  thirty  of  whom 
were  men  of  families.  In  the  course  of  the  summer,  he 
was  informed  that  many  of  them  were  in  debt;  and  on 
investigating  their  concerns,  with  surprise  he  ascertain- 
ed the  fact,  that  every  one  who  was  in  the  habit  of 
using  ardent  spirits,  was  involved  to  an  extent  beyond 
his  ability  to  pay ;  and,  with  a  satisfaction  equal  to  his 
former  surprise,  he  learned  the  additional  fact,  that 
those  who  made  no  use  of  spirits,  were  in  easy  circum- 
stances, and  their  children  well  provided  for  at  school. 
Nor  did  a  difference  of  wages  from  seventy-five  cents 
to  ten  shillings  per  day,  make  any  perceptible  change 
in  the  situation  of  the  former  class  of  workmen. 

With  this  picture  before  him,  Mr.  Allaire  was  at 
once  induced  to  prohibit  the  use  of  ardent  spirits  alto- 
gether, in  his  shops,  during  working  hours.  But  one 
person  left  his  employ  in  consequence  of  this  restric- 
tion ;  and  this  man  had  borrowed  of  Mr.  Allaire,  while 
in  his  service,  upwards  of  %  300  to  pay  grocery-bills. 
In  conclusion  of  his  letter,  Mr.  Allaire  observes :  I 
have  great  reason  to  be  pleased  with  the  happy  effects 
of  this  regulation.  I  find  my  interest  better  served ; 
and  that  those  who,  from  excessive  drinking,  had  be- 
come of  but  little  worth  to  me,  and  in  many  instances, 
of  less"  to  their  families,  have  now  become  able  and 
steady ;  earn  more  money ;  and  their  families  as  well 
as  themselves,  have  expressed,  in  a  language  not  to  be 
misunderstood,  the  many  comforts  and  the  domestic- 
happiness,  which  they  enjoy  in  consequence. 

This  single  experiment  speaks  volumes ;  and  the 
managers  take  this  occasion  to  congratulate  the  com- 


munity,  on  the  bold  and  successful  stand  taken  by  this 
gentleman,  to  abolish  altogether,  the  use  of  ardent  spi- 
rits from  large  manufactories.  It  is  by  prompt  mea- 
sures, persevered  in,  that  evil  habits  are  corrected,  and 
not  by  tampering  and  partial  restrictions. 

In  many  counties  of  this  state,  and  in  Pennsylvania, 
strong  inducements  have  been  held  out  for  abolishing 
the  use  of  ardent  spirits.  The  agricultural  societies 
have  offered  premiums  to  the  farmers  who  would  se- 
cure the  greatest  crops  of  grain  and,  hay,  without  the 
use  of  spirituous  liquors:  and  in  many  instances,  not  a 
drop  of  ardent  spirits  has  been  used  by  the  husband- 
men, on  very  extensive  farms,  during  the  whole  sum- 
mer months.  This  fact  may  also  serve  to  correct  the 
general  erroneous  impression  before  stated  on  this  sub- 
ject. This  great  evil  and  its  remedies  were  fully  con- 
sidered in  the  last  Annual  Report,  to  which  the  mana- 
gers refer  the  public* 

It  is  with  feelings  of  regret,  that  the  managers  are 
constrained  to  inform  the  society,  that  their  application 
to  the  legislature  during  its  last  winter  session,  for  the 
enactment  of  a  law  calculated  to  diminish  the  evils  of 
intemperance,  did  not  succeed.  Under  the  deep  con- 
viction that  legislative  aid  is  necessary  to  suppress  these 
evils,  the  managers  intend  to  renew  their  petition  dur- 
ing the  present  session.  It  is  utterly  impossible  to  en- 
counter the  extensive  and  destructive  use  of  ardent  spi- 
rits, without  the  co-operation  of  our  public  guardians. 
Let  us  speak,  then,  until  we  shall  be  heard — let  us  act, 
until  triumph  crown  our  efforts ! 


*  See  Correspondence  between  Mr.  Colden  and  Mr.  Haines,  published 
i'n  the  Appendix  to  the  last  Annnal  Report. 


L     12  ] 

2.  Ignorance. — In  a  country  like  the  United  States,, 
where  the  perpetuity  of  civil  and  religious  rights,  de- 
pends upon  the  general  diffusion  of  early  education,  and 
the  inculcation  of  correct  early  habits,  and  where  the 
instruction  of  youth  is  so  easily  maintained,  it  ought  to 
be  felt  as  a  reproach,  that  the  elements  of  useful  know- 
ledge are  in  any  degree  neglected.  The  school  system 
of  the  state  of  New-York  should  prove  a  source  of 
elevated  satisfaction  to  every  member  of  this  commu- 
nity. But  while  our  feelings  are  elated  at  the  recollec- 
tion, that  more  than  $  160,000  are  annual!)'  expended 
in  the  instruction  of  at  least  350,000  youth,  composing 
above  six  thousand  common  schools,  we  should  also  re- 
member, that  thousands  of  children  are  growing  up  in 
this  city,  destitute  of  that  superintendence  over  their 
minds  and  morals,  so  indispensible  to  render  them  a 
valuable  acquisition  to  society.  Under  popular  institu- 
tions, early  indigence  and  obscurity  of  birth  present  no 
barrier  to  the  attainment  of  the  highest  distinctions, 
when  genius,  virtue  and  ambition  are  united.  If  timely 
instruction  then,  can  effect  so  much  in  the  future  for- 
tune of  individuals,  and  turn  thousands  from  the  paths 
of  indolence,  poverty  and  guilt,  to  the  paths  of  useful- 
ness and  renown,  what  benevolent  spirit  should  sleep, 
when  the  calls  for  action  are  loud  and  constant  ?  After 
all  the  brilliant  speculations  that  have  marked  the  in- 
vestigations of  pauperism,  and  its  general  causes  in 
Europe,  the  most  salutary  benefit  that  has  resulted 
from  the  display  of  learning  and  eloquence  on  this  sub- 
ject, is  found  in  the  universal  conviction,  that  early 
education  and  self-respect,  constitute  the  grand  remedy 
to  be  applied. 


I       13  ] 

The  managers  are,  however,  gratified  in  being  able 
lo  saj,  that  much  has  been  done,  during  the  past  year, 
in  the  city  of  New-York,  to  enlighten  the  minds,  and 
to  fix  the  habits  of  youth,  in  the  lower  walks  of  life. 
Every  ornament  of  our  metropolis ;  every  embellish- 
ment that  proceeds  from  the  combination  of  taste,  art, 
and  munificence,  inspires  feelings  less  grateful  and 
satisfactory,  than  that  grand  spectacle  which  is  dis- 
played in  the  united  exertions  of  every  christian  deno- 
mination, and  of  different  classes  of  individuals,  to 
spread  the  glorious  lights  of  knowledge  among  the 
poor  and  destitute — stripping  vice  of  her  blandish- 
ments— and  raising  the  mind  to  the  contemplation  of 
the  great  truths  of  Christianity. 

The  managers  are  not  enabled  to  state  the  exact 
number  of  children,  who  have  received  public  and  pri- 
vate instruction  in  this  city,  during  the  past  year.  The 
number  taught  in  the  schools  aided  by  the  state  fund, 
may  be  reckoned  at  five  thousand. 

The  following  is  the  result  of  an  official  return,  up 
to  November  1820. — In  the  New-York  Free  School, 
the  number  of  scholars  was  2145:  in  the  Female  As- 
sociation, 664  :  in  the  African  School,  490 :  St.  Patrick's 
Cathedral,  359 :  St.  Peters  Church,  356 :  the  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church.  305:  the  Economical  School,  125 : 
the  Episcopal  Church  School,  124:  the  Orphan  Asylum, 
129:  in  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  124:  in  the 
Scotch  Presbyterian  Church,  28:  in  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Benevolent  Society,  28:  in  the  German  Lutheran 
Church,  24:  St.  Michael's  Church,  13:  First  Presby- 
terian Church,  9 :  in  Sherath  Israel,  7. — The  amount 
expended  during  the  past  year,  in  the  education  of  the 


(      14  ] 

above  pupils,  is  %  14,759  41.* — The  present  number  of 
pupils  in  the  Institution  for  the  Instruction  of  the  Deaf 
and  Dumb,  is  52:  and  in  the  Clarkson  Association 
School,f  for  the  benefit  of  adult  colored  females,  is  55. 
In  the  private  schools  of  three  teachers,  who  belong  to 
the  Society  of  Teachers,  the  average  number  of  atten- 
dants may  be  stated  at  1500.  It  is  much  to  be  lament- 
ed, that  the  managers  are  not  able  to  present  to  the 
public,  a  full  statement  of  all  the  children  who  are 
placed  under  private  tuition.  The  list  here  furnished, 
includes  about  six  thousand  six  hundred. 

The  managers  would  congratulate  the  public  on  the 
success  which  has  attended  the  Sunday  Schools  in  this 
city.  Those  in  connexion  with  the  New-York  Sunday 
School  Union  Society,  the  Female  Union  Society,  and 
the  several  Episcopal  Churches,  amounting  in  the 
whole,  to  the  number  of  eighty,  are  attended  by  about 
6500  pupils.  About  one  thousand  superintendents  and 
teachers  are  engaged  in  conducting  these  seminaries. 
Since  their  first  establishment  in  1816,  many  thousands 
of  children  have  been  under  their  supervision,  received 
the  benefits  which  they  confer,  who  are  not  now 
attached  to  them.  In  the  school  united  to  St.  George's 
Chapel,  there  are  500  scholars.  Since  its  foundation, 
500  different  teachers  have  been  engaged,  and  up- 
wards of  4000  children  have  been  instructed. 

During  the  last  year,  the  Apprentice's  Library  has 
been  founded  in  this  city.  It  contains  upwards  of  5000 
volumes,  and  is  rapidly  increasing.    Eight  hundred 

*  The  probable  amount  expended  in  the  use  of  ardent  spirits, 
g  1,893.011. 

t  This  was  the  first  Sunday  School  established  in  New-York.  It  was 
commenced  by  a  number  of  young  females  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
in  April  1811,  for  the  teaching  of  adult  colored  women. 


[    15  ] 

different  apprentices  have  already  opened  account's 
with  the  librarian,  and  the  list  of  subscribers  is  au<r- 

o 

merited  weekly.  The  blessings  that  will  flow  from 
this  laudable  association ;  the  tendency  it  will  have  to 
enlarge  and  exalt  the  mind;  the  ambition  which  it  will 
inspire,  and  the  future  respectability  which  it  will  im- 
part, require  no  illustration. 

Great  and  salutary  changes  have  been  effected,  since 
our  last  Annual  Report,  in  the  foundation  of  churches, 
and  in  the  communication  of  religious  instruction,  in 
the  most  obscure  and  profligate  parts  of  this  metropo- 
lis. The  church  for  seamen,  opened  in  Roosevelt- 
street,  has  been  well  attended.  The  new  church  at 
Corlaer's-Hook  has  produced  visible  changes  in  its 
vicinity.  In  the  new  church  in  Market-street,  and  in 
the  Mission  House  in  Banker-street,  strong  proofs  have 
been  exhibited  of  the  mild  and  cheering  tendency  of 
the  gospel  of  peace.  The  extent  to  which  Bibles  have 
been  distributed,  is  calculated  to  inspire  feelings  equally 
grateful  and  animating,  although  it  is  the  opinion  of 
the  managers,  that  much  more  might  and  should  have 
been  done,  in  this  sphere  of  exertion. 

But  in  presenting  this  picture,  enlivened  as  it  is  by 
the  glowing  features  of  zeal,  benevolence  and  perse- 
verance, a  deep  expression  of  regret  cannot  be  sup- 
pressed, that  there  is  still  a  vast  mass  of  ignorant  popu- 
lation in  this  city.  The  theatre  of  action  is  still  wide, 
and  the  incitements  to  new  and  increasing  efforts,  are 
perpetually  before  our  eyes.  No  expedients  should  be 
neglected  to  raise  fresh  and  more  powerful  combina- 
tions, to  carryforward  the  grand  work  of  reform,  that 
grows  out  of  moral  and  religious  instruction,  and  ts 


[     «  J 

spread  knowledge  throughout  aH  the  ranks  of  society. 
Here  is  the  watch-tower  of  our  strength — here  is  a 
wall  of  defence  that  never  fails,  unless  its  sentinels 
slumber  on  their  posts. 

3.  Criminal  Prosecutions. — This  subject  was  fully 
treated  in  the  last  year's  report,  under  the  head  of 
«  litigation  and  law-suits  in  our  Criminal  Courts."  It 
then  was,  and  still  is,  a  source  of  evil  as  well  as  of  good. 
In  every  society  governed  by  laws,  offenders  will  be 
found,  whom  the  public  security  requires  should  bp 
punished,  or  prevented  from  making  future  depreda- 
tions upon  the  rights  of  others.  Courts  are  established, 
as  the  medium  through  which  redress  and  punishment 
shall  be  measured  out.  The  existence  of  judicial  tri- 
bunals is  therefore  essential  to  the  enjoyment  of  our 
rights.  It  is  the  excellence  of  our  free  institutions,  that 
before  these  seats  of  justice,  the  rights  of  the  poor  man 
and  the  rich,  are  equally  respected.  It  is  to  the  mode 
of  managing  criminal  prosecutions,  that  the  managers 
would  again  call  the  attention  of  the  society.  It  is 
this  of  which  they  complain,  as  an  increasing  source 
of  evil. 

Since  the  first  of  January,  1820,  the  aggregate  num- 
ber of  complaints  and  indictments  which  have  been 
presented  to  the  Court  of  Sessions,  amounts  to  3032. 
Of  this  total,  it  has  been  already  mentioned,  that  1061 
were  for  assault  and  batteries ;  of  which  last  number, 
612  were  dismissed,  113  settled  without  trial ;  and  on 
the  entire  number  of  complaints,  758  indictments  were 
found. 

The  bare  statement  of  these  facts,  it  should  seem. 
Would  create  alarm  in  the  mind  of  overv  citizen,  and 

¥  * 


[        17  ] 

excite  an  anxious  inquiry,  generally,  into  the  probable 
causes  of  this  great  increase' of  crime  and  litigation^ 
and  also  into  the  best  means  of  prevention.  The 
managers  deem  it  unnecessary  to  go  into  particular 
detail,  to  show  the  manner  in  which  the  present  mode 
of  conducting  criminal  prosecutions  is  productive  of 
pauperism,  among  the  lower  classes.  Far  be  it  from 
their  intention  to  cast  any  censure  upon  those  invested 
with  the  administration  of  criminal  justice.  Their 
only  desire  is,  that  some  more  summary  mode  of 
punishing  petty  misdemeanors  maybe  devised;  so  that 
remedial  justice  may  be  speedily  dispensed  to  all  that 
class  of  minor  offenders,  who  are  doomed  to  await  in 
bridewell,  the  lingering  day  of  trial. 

Of  all  the  offences  included  in  the  above  statements 
of  complaints,  assaults  and  batteries  are  the  most  mis- 
chievous to  the  character  and  morals  of  the  community. 
The  assassin  commits  his  murderous  deed  alone.  The 
incendiary  plants  his  torch  under  the  cover  of  mid- 
night ;  while  the  thief  lurks  for  plunder  in  the  dusk  ot 
evening,  as  honest  men  are  busy  at  their  toil.  All 
these  shrink  from  the  day,  and  shun  those  who  would 
become  companions  in  their  spoil  and  guilt.  But  to 
perpetrate  the  minor  deed  of  atrocity,  called  assault 
and  battery,  there  must  be  an  association  of  the  dis- 
turbers of  the  peace  of  society.  One  alone  cannot  com- 
mit the  act :  and  it  is  this  communion  of  peace-break- 
ers, which  becomes  so  mischievous.  Interdict  the  use 
of  ardent  spirits,  and  the  names  of  thousands,  who  are 
now  convicted  of  this  barbarous  offence,  would  not  be 
had  in  so  disgraceful  remembrance  upon  the  record? 
of  our  criminal  courts. 

Ai  mi  nil'         i  Ifi^  i)  i  i  i  iiiiii  II  lid 


t     »  3 

In  civil  matters,  a  delay  of  justice  has  been  declared 
as  grievous  as  its  denial.  But  in  civil  suits,  pecuniary 
damages  are  the  great  end  in  view.  In  criminal  pro- 
secutions, public  justice  and  the  general  welfare  are 
concerned,  on  the  one  side  :  and  the  character,  liberty 
and  life  of  the  accused,  are  at  stake  on  the  other. 
Owing  to  the  benign  principles  of  our  jurisprudence, 
every  man  shall  be  considered  innocent  in  the  eye  of 
the  law,  until  his  guilt  be  established ;  and  this  princi- 
ple is  as  salutary  and  sacred  in  trifling  misdemeanors, 
as  in  the  most  atrocious  capital  offences.  If  an  inno- 
cent man  be,  then,  accused  of  a  disgraceful  crime,  (and 
the  most  virtuous  and  exemplary  are  not  always  secure 
against  the  suspicions  of  the  profligate  and  guilty)  how 
must  the  great  end  of  justice  be  defeated — how  must 
his  feelings,  reputation  and  interests  suffer,  by  a  long 
ignominious  imprisonment  with  the  vilest  outcasts  and 
convicted  felons,  before  he  can  have  an  opportunity  of 
establishing  the  cruelty  and  wantonness  of  his  arrest  I 
The  law  presumes  his  innocence ;  and  until  guilt  be 
made  apparent,  care  should  be  taken  in  the  administra- 
tion of  that  law,  that  no  intentional  disgrace  attach  to 
the  character  of  the  unfortunate.  But  there  are  odium 
and  infamy  associated  with  the  name  of  bridewell: 
hence  it  should  be  a  strong  feature  in  the  policy  of  our 
criminal  code,  and  criminal  proceedings,  to  commit  as 
few  as  possible  to  bridewell,  until  the  sentence  of  the 
law  shall  have  fixed  its  sanction  upon  crime. 

All  these  evils  must  be  cured,  by  endeavoring  to  en- 
lighten and  reform  the  great  mass  of  the  community. 
Disseminate  intelligence,  and  inculcate  religious  prin- 
ciples among  the  lower  classes,  public  prosecutors  will 
find  fewer  criminals  to  arraign.    Let  parents,  masters, 


£      »  1 

guardians,  be  more  vigilant  and  exemplary,  the  evils 
under  consideration  will  gradually  die  away,  and  gene- 
rations will  rise  up  and  call  their  forefathers  blessed. 

4.  Condition  of  Prisons. — Under  this  head  is  to 
be  considered,  chiefly,  the  state  of  our  penitentiary  and 
bridewell.  The  whole  number  of  persons  confined  in 
the  Bellevue  Penitentiary,  amounts  to  345.  The  num- 
ber of  males  is  220;  the  number  of  females,  125. 
Among  the  males,  there  are  upwards  of  thirty  boys, 
between  the  ages  of  ten  and  sixteen  years. 

In  this  building,  the  white  and  black  females  are 
kept  separate,  in  two  large  rooms ;  the  white  and  black 
males  are  also  consigned  to  two  other  distinct  apart- 
ments, except  in  cases  of  sickness,  or  when  the  arrange- 
ments for  labor  require  them  to  be  mingled.  There 
is,  however,  very  little  employment  afforded  to  the 
females  of  either  color;  and  none  to  the  men,  except 
working  on  the  highway,  where  they  toil  in  chains. 

This  statement  of  facts  must  impress  every  reflect- 
ing mind,  with  a  deep  conviction,  that  there  is  some- 
thing radically  wrong  in  the  construction  and  discipline 
of  that  institution.  The  pernicious  tendency  of  crowd- 
ing a  large  number  of  convicts  together,  of  different 
ages  and  feelings,  and  who  have  perpetrated  crimes 
of  unequal  magnitude,  need  not  be  enforced  by  argu- 
ment— it  is  too  palpable  not  to  be  seen  and  felt. 

The  great  end  of  punishment,  is  the  prevention  of 
future  crime — by  reforming  the  offender,  by  deterring 
others  by  the  dread  of  example,  and  by  depriving  the 
party  injuring  of  the  power  to  do  future  mischief.  Now, 
with  the  facts  above  stated  before  us,  we  demand,  if 
there  exist  the  slightest  probability  of  moral  reforma- 
tion among  these  herded  convicts  in  the  penitentiary? 


[       20  ] 

There  you  find  a  mass  of  criminals,  marked  by  very 
different  shades  and  distinctions  of  guilt,  enduring  one 
common  punishment!  The  comparatively  innocent, 
there  suffer  the  same  hardships  which  are  adjudged  to 
delinquents  of  the  deepest  malignity — a  fact  which  vio- 
lates all  our  notions  of  retributive  justice,  and  confounds 
all  sense  of  equity.  If  misery  is  to  be  inflicted  at  all 
in  prisons,  it  ought  surely  to  be  apportioned  to  the 
crime  of  the  offender.  Besides  this  obvious  injustice 
resulting  to  the  convicts,  from  this  promiscuous  and 
indiscriminate  infliction  of  punishments,  there  is  no 
ground  to  hope  for  any  reform  in  their  moral  habits. 
Good  policy  requires  that  these  prisoners  should  be 
dismissed,  improved.  To  this  end  they  should  be  sepa- 
rated from  each  other  ;  they  will  then  be  forced  to  re- 
collection, possibly  to  repentance.  Seclusion  probablv 
never  failed  to  subdue  the  most  haughty,  and  reform 
the  most  abandoned. 

It  should  be  remarked,  that  the  means  of  instruc- 
tion are  afforded  to  the  boys  in  this  prison,  and  that 
they  exhibit  an  improvement  in  the  elements  of  edu- 
cation highly  gratifying.  Their  teacher,  however, 
is  a  convict,  and  cannot  feel  that  consciousness  of 
the  rectitude  of  his  own  example,  so  necessary  to  give 
sanction  to  the  sacred  lessons  of  morality.  Several 
other  boys,  it  should  also  be  observed,  have  been  sent 
to  the  penitentiary  as  vagrants,  and  therefore  are  not 
confined  there  as  convicts.  This  part  of  them  would 
be  at  once  discharged,  had  they  parents,  guardians, 
friends,  employment,  or  the  visible  means  of  a  liveli- 
hood; but,  in  the  providence  of  God,  having  neither 
father  nor  mother,  and  being  cast  upon  the  inclement 
tvorld,  friendless  and  destitute,  unoffending  and  young, 


t       21  J 

they  have  been  gathered  by  the  cold  arms  of  the  law, 
and  thrust  into-a  prison  filled  with  miscreants  of  every 
description — there  to  imbibe  the  principles  and  habits 
of  their  future  course — there  to  unfold  their  immortal 
powers,  in  an  atmosphere  polluted  with  crime !  And 
shall  it  in  future  times  be  said  of  New-York,  that  she 
has  educated  a  portion  of  her  native  \outh  with  a  gang 
of  felons  in  the  penitentiary?  And  this,  too,  because 
those  youths  have  in  their  infancy  been  abandoned  by 
the  hand  that  should  have  protected  them?  Justice 
and  humanity  revolt  at  the  idea,  and  require  that  the 
innocent  and  the  guilty  should  not  be  compelled  to 
associate  together.  Under  the  present  state  of  things, 
the  penitentiarv  cannot  but  be  a  fruitful  source  of  pau- 
perism— a  nursery  of  new  vices  and  crimes — a  college 
for  the  perfection  of  adepts  in  guilt. 

The  condition  of  the  bridewell  is  no  better.  The 
number  at  present  confined  there  is  71,  though  the 
number  varies  every  month,  in  consequence  of  trials 
and  discharges  by  the  public  authorities.  At  the  com- 
mencement of  each  term  of  the  criminal  court,  which 
sits  the  two  first  weeks  of  every  month,  the  average 
number  may  be  stated  at  about  120;  and  at  the  close 
of  each  term  of  the  said  court,  the  number  averages 
from  70  to  80.  The  males  and  females,  white  and 
black,  are  distributed  into  four  principal  apartments, 
where  they  live,  eat  and  sleep.  The  white  females  of 
all  descriptions  of  wretchedness  and  infamy,  occupy 
one  large  room,  separated  from  that  containing  the 
black  females,  by  large  wooden  bars  only,  placed  at 
considerable  distance  from  each  other — so  that  oral 
communications  are  uninterrupted,  and  whatever  goes 
on  in  one  room,  mav  be  seen,  and  heard  in  the  other 


[       *2  3 

Ml  the  black  males,  old  and  young,  are  confined  in  a 
single  room ;  but  the  white  men  and  boys  are  lodged 
in  separate  apartments,  one  of  which  is  called  the 
chain-room,  where  the  more  desperate  villains  are  kept. 

The  same  observations  that  have  been  made  respect- 
ing the  evils  of  the  penitentiary,  are  equally  applicable 
to  the  tendency  of  this  establishment.  In  bridewell, 
white  females  of  every  grade  of  character,  from  the 
innocent,  who  is  in  the  end  acquitted,  <lown  to  the 
basest  wretch  that  ever  disgraced  the  refuges  of 
prostitution,  are  crowded  into  the  same  abandoned 
abode.  With  the  white  male  prisoners,  the  case  is  lit- 
tle altered — the  novice  in  guilt,  and  the  obdurate  of- 
fender, are  consigned  to  the  same  apartment.  And  so 
it  is  with  the  colored  prisoners  of  both  sexes.  Hun- 
dreds are  taken  up  and  sent  to  these  places,  who  after 
remaining  frequently  several  weeks,  are  found  to  bo 
innocent  of  the  crime  alleged,  and  are  then  let  loose 
upon  the  community.  But,  vice  is  ever  contagious. 
Whatever  moral  differences  might  at  first  exist,  be- 
tween the  characters  of  these  joint-tenants  of  the  prison 
house,  it  is  the  principle  of  their  condition,  to  become 
more  assimilated  in  all  respects,  until  every  remnant 
of  virtue,  and  dictate  of  conscience,  are  banished  from 
the  fraternity,  and  vice  and  revenge  reign  triumphant 
in  every  bosom.  To  strengthen  and  diffuse  this  blight- 
ing influence,  no  seminary  could  be  better  calculated 
than  the  New-York  Bridewell — so  far  as  want  of  dis- 
crimination, want  of  separate  apartments,  want  of  em- 
ployment, and  want  of  proper  internal  regulations, 
could  ever  effect  it.  Such,  the  managers  are  constrain- 
ed to  say,  must  in  their  opinion,  be  the  inevitable  ten- 
dency of  the  existing  mode  of  confinement  in  the  peni- 
tentiary and  bridewell. 


[       23  ] 

It  is  but  an  act  of  justice  to  state,  however,  that  the 
manner  in  which  these  prisons  are  kept,  reflects  the 
highest  credit  on  their  respective  keepers.  The  rooms 
are  clean  and  wholesome;  and  there  appears  to  be 
order  and  system  in  their  government,  so  far  as  it  de- 
pends on  the  superintendents. 

The  remedies  for  the  evils  pointed  out  under  this 
head,  will  shortly  be  laid  before  the  society,  in  a  report 
to  be  made  by  a  committee  of  the  board,  appointed  to 
investigate  the  evils  generally  resulting  from  our  peni- 
tentiary system,  and  to  correspond  on  the  subject  with 
eeveral  of  the  first  men  in  the  Union.  The  managers 
look  for  that  report  with  great  interest.* 

5.  Gambling  Houses.  The  managers  are  not  able 
to  state  the  number  of  gambling  houses  in  this  city; 
they  are  doubtless  far  more  numerous  than  the  public 
imagine.  That  gambling  leads  to  ruin,  is  almost  uni- 
versally admitted.  Around  the  gambling  table,  all 
the  vices  cluster ;  more  especially,  intemperance,  pro- 
fanity, fraud  and  falsehood.  Hence,  in  every  intelligent 
and  moral  circle,  gambler  is  an  epithet  of  reproach 
and  detestation.  Why  does  he  endeavor  to  keep 
his  profession  unknown  to  any,  but  his  fellow  asso- 
ciates ?  Why  do  the  proprietors  of  gambling-houses 
fit  them  up  in  the  most  secret  places  ?  Evidently  be- 
cause they  wish  to  avoid  the  odium,  which  the  moral 
sense  of  the  community  attaches  to  the  character  of  a 
gambler.  And  why  is  the  night  selected  as  the  most 
favorable  time  for  gamblers  to  seek  these  by-places  of 
wickedness  and  amusement?    Because  the  conscious- 


.*  That  Committee  is  composed  of  the  following  Gentlemen :  C.  D. 
Colden,  Thomas  Eddy,  Peter  A.  Jay,  James  Milnor,  C.  Jones,  C.  G. 
ilaines,  and  R.  R.  Ward. 


ness  of  their  own  dissipation  cannot  bear  the  light 
of  day.  Few  are  so  shameless  as  to  resort  to  a 
gambling-house  by  day-light;  the  curtain  of  dark- 
ness must  be  gathered  around  them  before  they  will 
venture  forth  on  their  disreputable  errand. 

As  gambling-houses  are  productive  of  the  most 
ruinous  consequences  in  every  way,  and  as  there 
cannot  be  assigned  Ihe  shadow  of  a  reasonable  apo- 
logy for  their  existence,  they  should  be  discouraged 
and  suppressed.  No  penalty  for  this  purpose  would 
be  too  exorbitant.  Break  up  these  haunts  of  wick- 
edness and  prodigality,  and  you  would  dry  up 
streams  of  bitter  sorrow,  that  now  flow  from  the  bro- 
ken heart  of  many  a  parent. 

6.  Pakdons. — The  frequent  granting  of  pardons, 
by  the  executive  of  the  state,  contributes  to  the  repe- 
tition of  crime,  and  the  extension  of  pauperism.  Un- 
certainty in  the  execution  of  the  laws,  weakens  their 
preventive  influence  in  restraining  offences.  If  it  be 
conceded,  that  idleness  and  crime  produce  pauper- 
ism, it  must  also  be  conceded,  that  whatever  tends 
to  diminish  the  efficacy  of  safeguards  to  prevent 
them,  goes  to  favor  their  existence.  That  class  of 
persons  who  contemn  all  habits  of  industry — who 
have  lost  all  sense  of  moral  obligation,  and  who  sus- 
tain themselves  by  committing  depredations  on  the 
rights  of  others,  will  feel  but  little  dread  of  criminal 
prosecutions,  if  they  entertain  a  well-founded  hope 
of  pardon,  after  trial  and  conviction.  This  antici- 
pation has  a  tendency  to  render  the  dissolute  and 
abandoned,  a  public  charge  in  the  penitentiary, 
bridewell,  or  the  state  prison,  by  lessening  their  re- 
spect for  industry,  virtue  and  the  laws,  and  leading 


[       25  j 

them  to  the  fresh  commission  of  crimes  and  misdemean- 
ors. Many  of  the  paupers  of  this  city,  and  hundreds 
who  are  in  the  way  to  become  such,  have  been  the 
frequent  tenants  of  our  different  prisons,  and  the  un- 
worthy objects  of  executive  clemency. 

During  the  administration  of  the  late  chief  magistrate 
of  the  state,  and  also  during  the  existence  of  the  present 
state  administration,  pardons  have  been  numerous.  And 
it  is  matter  of  regret,  that  gentlemen  highly  respectable 
in  the  profession  of  the  law,  often  permit  themselves  to  be 
retained  as  advocates  to  further  the  application  of  con- 
victs, for  the  exercise  of  the  pardoning  power.  Nor  is 
this  all — jurors,  after  having  convicted  offenders  under 
the  solemnities  of  an  oath,  and  in  the  faithful  discharge 
of  their  duty,  sometimes  immediately  turn  round  and 
sign  a  petition  to  pardon  the  felon  whom  they  have 
condemned — thus  abrogating  their  own  solemn  acts, 
and  setting  the  laws  at  defiance.  This  practice  is  not 
unfrequent,  and  deserves  severe  reprehension. 

The  standing  excuse  for  the  practice  of  pardoning, 
has  long  been,  that  there  is  not  room  in  the  state  prison 
and  penitentiary,  to  hold  all  the  convicts  consigned  to 
those  places.  This  is  unquestionably  true — but  does  it 
not  argue  great  neglect  in  our  public  authorities,  that 
for  want  of  proper  buildings,  the  end  of  criminal  juris- 
prudence should  be  defeated,  and  vice  and  pauperism 
increased  ?  Far  better  would  it  be,  to  abolish  those  laws 
which  are  found  in  our  statute-book,  for  the  punish- 
ment of  offences,  if  trials  and  convictions  are  thus  to 
be  made  a  mere  mockery  of  justice,  because  of  some 
glaring  incapacity  to  inflict  the  penalty  incurred  by 
their  violation. 

D 


L      20  ] 

Let  prisons  be  so  modified,  as  to  admit  of  solitary 
punishment;  the  criminal  code  so  altered,  as  to  pro- 
hibit the  association  of  convicts,  and  their  term  of  con- 
finement made  short,  but  certain.  This  would  give 
terror  to  the  idea  of  punishment  in  prisons;  it  would 
reduce  the  number  convicted,  destroy  the  present 
excuse  for  pardoning,  and  do  away  all  the  evils  of  that 
system. 

7.  Lotteries. — The  last  Annual  Report  contains 
an  account  of  all  the  legislative  provisions  relative  to 
lotteries.  No  man  is  at  liberty  to  vend  tickets,  with- 
out a  license.  If  lotteries  must  be  tolerated  at  all,  per- 
haps the  legislature  could  not  put  them  under  better 
regulations.  But,  in  the  opinion  of  the  managers,  they 
have  a  pernicious  tendency  under  any  circumstances. 
They  are  a  species  of  gambling.  In  principle,  they  are 
immoral :  and  they  are  authorized  by  the  legislature, 
because  they  are  powerful  engines  for  raising  large 
snms  of  money,  for  literary  and  state  objects.  No  ends 
could  be  more  laudable ;  but  the  means  can  scarcely 
justify  them.  The  possibility  of  drawing  a  prize,  fre- 
quently tempts  the  needy  to  purchase  a  ticket  with  the 
earnings  of  months.  Thus  lotteries  impoverish  the 
poor.  They  are  also  destructive  of  industrious  regu- 
lar habits,  by  exciting  in  the  mind  of  the  person  inte- 
rested, an  improper  dependance  upon  pernicious  con- 
tingencies. 

The  managers  take  this  occasion  to  express  their 
strong  convictions  of  the  evil  tendency  of  every  species 
of  gambling ;  and  particularly  of  those  kinds  frequently 
adopted  as  fashionable  amusements.  Let  the  votary 
of  the  practice  consider  the  unprofitable  consumption 


[       27  j 

of  time,  as  among-  the  fruits  of  the  card-table  and  the 
dice-board.  Let  him  add  up  the  moments  which  are 
squandered  here,  without  benefit  to  soul,  to  body,  or  to 
society,  and  contemplate  their  sum.  Great  intellectual 
dissipation  is  also  among  those  fruits :  and  he  who  at 
first  plays  for  pastime,  will  gradually  become  involved 
in  the  system  of  playing  for  money.  There  are  those 
who  hate  gaming,  while  they  love  the  game.  Have 
they  not  heard  of  a  youth,  who  received  the  rudiments 
of  his  gaming  education  under  his  father's  roof,  be- 
coming, in  consequence  of  this  acquisition,  the  compa.- 
nion  of  vile  associates,  and  the  victim  of  their  crimes? 

8.  WaMT  ok  Cleanliness. — Every  year  produces 
n  favorable  change  m  the  personal  appearance  of  the 
great  body  of  children,  who  are  under  the  patronage 
of  the  various  charitable  institutions  in  this  city.  Uni- 
formity in  their  dress  undoubtedly  stimulates  their  ef- 
forts to  keep  themselves  neat  and  clean.  In  their  early 
education,  the  necessity  of  personal  cleanliness  should 
be  inculcated.  Virtue  holds  no  communion  with  entire 
carelessness  about  the  habits  of  body.  Want  of  clean- 
liness argues  want  of  shame,  and  when  shame  is  ex- 
tinguished, humanity  degenerates  to  the  lowest  stand- 
ard of  degration.  Hence  it  should  be  enjoined  on 
all  persons  under  the  concern  of  our  humane  institu- 
tions, that  they  preserve  a  neat  personal  appearance. 
It  is  impossible  to  enlighten  the  mind,  and  mend  the 
morals,  while  personal  cleanliness  is  wholly  neglected; 
such  is  the  connexion  and  mysterious  influence  of  phy- 
sical and  moral  agencies. 

The  managers  feel  great  cause  of  congratulation, 
that  the  lights  of  knowledge  are  so  rapidly  dispelling 


the  ignorance  which  has  hitherto  enveloped  the  poor 
children  of  the  city,  and  introducing  among  thern  a 
love  of  mental  and  personal  improvement. 

9.  Emigration. — The  subject  of  foreign  emigration 
to  this  state,  and  the  United  States  demands  the  atten- 
tion of  the  citizens,  and  of  the  national  and  state  legis- 
latures. By  the  nations  of  the  east,  this  country 
has  been  regarded  as  the  asylum  of  freedom — the 
home  of  the  exile  and  stranger :  and  accordingly,  thou- 
sands have  flocked  to  our  shores  from  every  quarter 
of  the  world. 

The  increase  of  foreign  population  among  our  na- 
tive citizens,  may  require  occasional  revision  of  our 
municipal  regulations.  In  the  year  1806,  according 
to  Mr.  Blodget's  Statistical  Manual,  the  number  of 
foreign  emigrants  in  the  United  States,  was  but  4000. 
Mr.  Seybert  states  the  number  of  emigrants  who  ar- 
rived in  this  city,  during  the  year  1817,  to  be  7634; 
and  the  whole  number  that  arrived,  in  the  same  year, 
at  ten  of  the  principal  ports  in  the  United  States,  to 
be  22,240.  During  the  year  1819,  18,930  foreigners 
arrived  in  vessels  at  the  city  of  New-York;  but  during 
the  year  1820,  the  whole  number  was  only  4662. 
Generally,  the  number  arriving  annually  at  this  port,  is 
considerably  greater  than  the  whole  number  of  emi- 
grants annually  arriving  at  every  other  port  in  the 
Union,  Philadelphia  only  excepted. 

These  strangers  generally  come  from  populous 
towns  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  At  home  they 
have,  therefore,  been  unaccustomed  to  rural  life  ;  and 
on  their  arrival  here,  they  are  little  disposed  to  seek 
the  interior,  and  less  qualified  to  cultivate  the  soil. 


[       29  ] 

Frequently,  they  bring  nothing  with  them ;  sometime*, 
a  knowledge  of  their  arts  and  manufactures.  Conse- 
quently, this  mass  of  foreigners  comes  to  our  shores 
chiefly  dependent  upon  the  means  of  subsistence  to  be 
found  here.  The  city  of  New-York  thus  becomes 
their  landing-place ;  and  the  city  of  New-York  must 
not  see  the  needy  suffer.  This  statement  does  not, 
however,  include  all  the  foreigners  who  come  to  this 
city.  To  avoid  giving  bonds  at  the  custom-house,  mas- 
ters of  vessels  frequently  land  foreign  passengers  destin- 
ed to  this  port,  along  the  adjacent  coast,  who  afterwards 
find  their  way  hither  by  land ;  or  else  they  embark  on 
board  our  own  coasting  vessels  bound  to  this  port,  all 
of  which  are  by  the  act  of  Congress  exempted  from 
making  entry,  at  the  custom-house  of  the  port  of  ulti- 
mate destination.  In  this  manner,  all  our  legislative 
precautions  on  this  subject  are  evaded.  Again :  the 
poor  of  the  neighboring  states,  and  many  from  the 
neighboring:  counties  of  our  own  state,  crowd  into  this 
fity,  to  live  upon  the  charity  of  our  citizens,  during  the 
inclement  months.  Foreigners,  too,  frequently  land 
here  late  in  the  fall  of  the  year. 

Thus,  New- York  is  made  the  receptacle  of  thousands 
who  depend,  at  least  for  the  winter  season,  upon  pub- 
lic bounty  for  support.  It  is  frequently  difficult  to  dis- 
tinguish between  residents  and  non-residents ;  and  in 
some  cases,  when  the  fact  is  ascertained,  it  is  less  expen- 
sive and  more  humane,  to  feed,  shelter  and  clothe  the 
sufferer,  than  it  would  be  to  transport  him  from  county 
to  county  in  the  midst  of  winter. 

This  state  of  things  calls  for  serious  attention.  Last 
yoar,  the  whole  subject  was  put  before  the  community 


I       30  j 

in  the  strongest  light ;  and  we,  therefore,  say  less  on 
this  occasion.  In  the  last  report,  and  in  the  mayor's 
letter*  published  with  that  report,  many  important 
suggestions  were  offered  for  legislative  consideration. 
The  managers  again  refer  the  public  to  those  docu- 
ments for  it  is  chiefly  by  legislative  interposition,  that 
this  prolific  source  of  pauperism  is  to  be  diminished. 

10.  Idleness  and  want  of  employment. — The 
managers  must  again  call  the  attention  of  the  society, 
to  the  great  extent  of  voluntary  idleness  which  prevails 
in  our  metropolis,  and  the  vital  necessity  of  making 
some  systematic  exertions,  to  remedy  the  evil,  by  open- 
ing sources  of  employment.  It  has  been  recently  calcu- 
lated, that  the  number  of  persons  in  this  city,  who,  in 
a  greater  or  less  degree,  receive  charitable  aid,  or  are 
maintained  at  the  public  expense,  cannot  be  estimated 
at  less  than  from  twelve  to  thirteen  thousand.  In  this 
aggregate,  is  included  all  those  who  are  confined  in  the 
bridewell,  the  penitentiary,  the  state-prison,  the  alms- 
house, the  New- York  Hospital ;  who  receive  support 
from  our  different  charitable  institutions ;  who  are  under 
the  benevolent  care  of  the  various  churches  and  con- 
gregations ;  and  who  are  assisted  by  charitable  and 
humane  individuals. — Out  of  this  portion  of  our  popu- 
lation, at  least  one-half  may  be  selected  of  individuals, 
who  are  capable  of  performing  manual  labor,  and  of 
earning  their  subsistence. 

The  annual  expenditures  now  incurred  in  their 
maintenance  is  immense.  It  is  greater  than  the  dis- 
bursements for  each  of  the  civil  lists  of  two-thirds  of 


*  See  correspondence  between  Mr.  Colden  and  Mr.  Haines,  published 
"in  the  Appendix  to  the  last  Aunual  Report. 


[       31  ] 

the  states  in  the  Union.  The  importance,  therefore, 
of  entering  into  some  system,  by  whieh  these  paupers 
-an  be  employed,  is  fully  evident. 

The  number  of  beggars  and  mendicants  who  wan- 
der through  the  city,  appears  to  have  much  increased, 
since  the  last  winter.    Many  of  them  bear  the  strong- 
est marks  of  intemperance  and  vice.    They  boldly  ap- 
ply at  the  doors  of  our  houses,  under  pretence  of  recent 
misfortunes,  wearing  together  in  their  fabricated  nar- 
ratives, a  tissue  of  gross  falsehoods  and  absurdities. 
They  change  their  misrepresentations  to  suit  their  pur- 
poses, and  are  too  far  successful  in  extorting  alms  by 
base  expedients.    Sometimes  they  plead  accidents  at 
sea,  and  late  shipwrecks.     At  other  times  they  resort 
to  the  pretence  of  death  or  sickness  in  their  families ; 
or  express  a  desire  of  leaving  the  city,  and  their  inability 
to  do  it.    Many  of  them  assign  their  incapacity  to  ob- 
tain shelter  for  the  night,  and  when  means  of  procuring 
comfort  are  furnished  them,  they  repair  to  the  dram- 
shop, expend  the  avails  of  their  impudence  and  inge- 
nuity, and  again  sally  forth  for  fresh  supplies.    To  be- 
stow charity  on  such  vagrants,  and  victims  of  moral 
turpitude,  is  to  extend  a  bounty  on  their  impositions. 

The  managers  recommend  the  practice  of  abstaining 
from  giving  money  to  these  voluntary  paupers ;  for,  if 
they  can  procure  any  thing  which  may  be  converted 
into  ardent  spirits,  the  exercise  of  benevolence  in  their 
behalf,  only  goes  to  increase  the  profit  and  business 
of  the  dram-seller.  If  their  petitions  are  to  be  heard 
at  all,  it  is  warmly  enjoined  upon  every  family  whom 
they  annoy,  to  furnish  some  temporary  work,  to  make 
them  earn  what  they  receive.  When  they  apply  for 
aid,  let  them  be  shewn  some  employment  on  the  spot. 


c    *  1 

by  which  they  may  be  engaged  for  only  a  few  hours, 
and  thus  the  merit  and  sincerity  of  their  claims  will  be 
put  to  the  test.  The  result  must  be,  that  such  calls  will 
seldom  be  repeated.  This  has  been  tried  with  excel- 
lent effects  in  some  of  our  cities  further  south,  and 
with  a  good  tendency  by  some  individuals  in  our  own 
metropolis. 

The  managers  also  recommend  it  to  the  society,  to 
make  every  possible  effort,  to  interest  the  public  au- 
thorities of  our  city,  in  opening  some  means  of  employ- 
ment to  the  poor  and  idle,  during  the  severe  seasons 
of  the  year.  In  our  apprehension  it  is  far  more  politic 
to  make  those  public  improvements,  which  are  not 
immediately  wanted,  and  thus  give  labor  to  our  pau- 
pers, than  to  expend  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars 
annually  to  support  them  in  idleness,  and  often  in  vice. 
It  will  cost  no  more  to  employ  them,  than  it  will  to 
sustain  them  in  indolence ;  and  when  this  course  is  pur- 
sued, their  numbers  will  greatly  diminish. 

<atm* 

From  the  foregoing  facts  and  observations,  the  so- 
ciety and  the  public  will  be  able  to  form  some  just  es- 
timate of  the  nature  and  importance  of  the  objects  and 
exertions  of  this  institution.  But  little  more  than  three 
years  have  elapsed  since  its  formation.  In  its  progress, 
new  subjects  of  investigation  have  been  presented  at 
every  step,  and  new  obstacles  have  been  encountered. 
Past  experience,  however,  induces  the  managers  to 
believe,  that  the  fruits  of  their  labors  will  be  realized 
in  the  visible  and  extensive  improvement  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  poor.    To  compass  this  end,  they  have 


[       33  ] 

endeavored  to  ascertain,  that  they  might  counteract, 
the  more  obvious  causes  of  pauperism  in  this  city.  The 
results  of  their  researches  are  before  the  public.  They 
now  appeal,  not  so  much  to  the  sympathies  and  cha- 
rity, as  to  the  known  interest  of  that  public,  to  co-ope- 
rate with  this  society  in  the  use  of  every  proper  mea- 
sure for  the  prevention  of  pauperism.  Their  great 
object  is,  not  to  solicit  alms;  it  is  rather  to  engage  that 
active  philanthropy,  whose  timely  and  well-directed 
exertions  may  diminish  the  necessity  for  alms-giving. 
Prevention,  more  than  relief,  is  what  they  aim  at. 
Who,  then,  will  be  backward  to  countenance  their  ef- 
forts ?  As  the  rich  are  taxed  to  maintain  the  poor,  it 
is  the  interest  of  the  rich,  to  unite  with  this  institution, 
to  prevent  the  increase  of  paupers.  Talents,  influence, 
benevolence,  authority  and  law,  should  all  lend  their 
sanction  to  this  object. 

Indulging  a  lively  expectation,  therefore,  of  receiving 
from  the  citizens  generally,  and  from  the  legislature, 
that  decided  approbation  and  efficient  support,  which 
the  important  objects  of  the  institution  demand,  the 
managers  cheerfully  enter  upon  the  discharge  of  their 
duties.  And  in  the  beginning,  they  recommend  to  the 
careful  consideration  of  the  society,  during  the  current 
year,  the  following  general  subjects  : 

L  Civil  and  Criminal  Police. 

2.  Intemperance. 

3.  Emigration. 

4.  Disorderly  Houses. 

5.  Ignorance  and  neglect  of  Religious  Worship. 

6.  Want  of  Cleanliness. 

7.  Lotteries,  Pawn-brokers  and  Intelligence  Offices. 

8.  Public  Amusements. 

E 


[       34  ] 

9.  Idleness  and  Want  of  Employment. 

10.  Domestic  Economy. 

1 1 .  Correspondence. 

12.  The  Library. 

.13.  Juvenile  Delinquency. 

The  managers  have  appointed  from  their  own  body, 
a  standing  committee  on  each  of  die  above  mentioned 
subjects.  It  will  become  the  duty  of  those  committees 
to  determine,  as  far  as  practicable,  and  at  the  close  of 
the  year,  to  report  how  far  any  of  them  may  be  pro- 
ductive sources  of  pauperism  in  this  city.  It  has  already 
been  observed,  that  before  evils  can  be  eradicated,  their 
cause  and  nature  must  be  understood;  it  is  to  ascertain 
facts,  therefore,  on  the  subject  of  pauperism,  that  the 
managers  have  made  the  foregoing  classification.  The 
evils  resulting  from  several  of  those  sources,  have 
already  been  pointed  out,  but  others  remain  unex- 
plored. 

Such  is  the  ample  field  of  exertion  presented  to  this 
institution.  Such  are  the  strong  incitements  to  bold 
and  vigorous  action,  that  appeal  to  us  on  every  side. 
As  v\  e  march  forward  in  the  work  of  reformation,  and 
extend  our  investigations  into  new  abuses,  we  must 
expect  to  combat  new  prejudices,  and  encounter  obsta- 
cles hitherto  hidden  from  our  eyes.  But  let  us  never 
forget  that  there  is  an  inherent  strength  in  virtue,  that 
will  ultimately  accomplish  her  grand  and  sublime  pur- 
poses. 

Our  cause  is  the  cause  of  this  metropolis;  it  is  the 
cause  of  distant  times,  and  of  other  generations.  On 
the  triumph  of  the  principles  which  we  have  adopted 
and  proclaimed,  depends  the  purity  and  character  of  our 
social  system,  and  the  duration  of  those  civil  and  reli- 


[       35  j 

gious  institutions,  which  we  love  and  venerate.  Sooner 
or  later,  our  public  rulers,  and  the  leading  members  of 
this  community,  must  mingle  their  wishes,  their  zeal, 
and  their  exertions,  with  our  own,  in  the  same  rational 
and  exalted  plans,  to  dry  up  the  dark  fountains  of 
moral  evil,  and  increase  the  measure  of  human  happi- 
ness. Again,  we  repeat,  let  us  advance  in  the  great 
and  glorious  work  which  we  have  begun — and  may  the 
benedictions  of  the  good,  and  the  smiles  of  heaven  rest 
upon  our  labors ! 

By  order  of  the  Board  of  Managers, 

C.  D.  COLDEN,  President. 
J.  Griscom,  Secretary. 


New-York,  Dec.  1820. 


At  the  Fourth  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Society  for 
the  Prevention  of  Pauperism  in  the  city  of  Nen  -  York, 
held  at  the  New-York  Institution,  the  11th  December, 
1820,  the  following  gentlemen  were  elected  a  Board 
of  Managers  for  the  ensuing  year : 


rke-Presidents. 


MANAGERS. 

CAD  WALLA  DER  D.  COLDEN, 

BROCKHOLST  LIVINGSTON, 

WILLIAM  FEW, 

THOMAS  EDDY, 

CAVE  JONES,  ) 

JOHN  E.  HYDE,  Treasurer. 

JOHN  GRISCOM,  Secretary. 

DANIEL  E.  TYLEE.  Jlssistant  Secretary. 
GARRET  N.  BLEECKER,    SAMUEL  MARSH, 
WILLIAM  M.  CARTER, 
ROBERT  C.  CORNELL, 
BENJAMIN  CLARK, 


ISAAC  COLLINS, 
JOSEPH  CURTIS, 
Dr.  J.  CLARK, 
JAMES  EASTBURN, 
THOMAS  FRANKLIN, 
CHAS.  G.  HAINES, 
JOHN  R.  HURD, 
ANSEL  W.  IVES, 
JOHN  T.  IRVING, 
ZACHARIAH  LEW  S, 
ELEAZER  LORD. 


JAMES  M.  MATHEWS. 
JOHN  PINTARD, 
CYRUS  PERKINS, 
ALEX.  PROUDFIT, 
FRED.  W.  PORTER, 
J.  B.  RAPELYE, 
FRED.  C.  SCHAEFFER, 
JOSEPH  SMITH, 
THOS.  R.  SMITH, 
Dr.  JOHN  STEARNS, 
SAMUEL  WOOD, 
H.  VAN  WAGENEN, 
GEORGE  W.  WARNER, 
RICHARD  R.  WARD. 


It   38   ]      „# .  * 

The  Managers  have  appointed  the  following 
Standing  Committees  for  the  year  1821,  on 
the  several  subjects  mentioned  in  a  former 
part  of  this  Report,  to  wit : 

On  the  Subject  of  Civil  and  Criminal  Police. 

CHARLES  G.  HAINES,  JAMES  M.  MATHEWS, 
THOMAS  EDDY,  GEORGE  W.  WARNER, 

ELEAZER  LORD. 

On  Emigration. 

JOHN  PINTARD,       CORNELIUS  DUBOIS, 
THOS.  R.  SMITH,     R.  C.  CORNELL. 

On  Intemperance. 

WILLIAM  FEW,        JOHN  E.  HYDE, 
JOHN  R.  HURD. 

On  Disorderly  Houses. 

T.  R.  SMITH,  C.  G.  HAINES, 

SAMUEL  MARSH. 

07i  Want  of  Cleanliness. 
CYRUS  PERKINS,     JAMES  EASTBURN, 
ISAAC  COLLINS,       BENJ.  CLARK. 

On  Ignorance  and  JVfegleci  of  Religious  Worship. 

JAMES  M.  MATHEWS,      JOHN  GRISCOM, 
JOHN  R.  HURD,  R.  R.  WARD, 

F.  C.  SCHAEFFER. 

On  Lotteries,  Pawn-brokers  and  Intelligence  Offices. 

WILLIAM  FEW,        CAVE  JONES, 
DANIEL  E.  TYLEE. 


I       39  ] 

On  the  Library. 

F.  C.  SCHAEFFER,         JOHN  GRISCOM, 
Z.  LEWIS. 

On  Domestic  Economy. 

E.  LORD,  ANSEL  W.  IVES, 

SAMUEL  WOOD. 

On  Idleness  and  Want  of  Employment. 
T.  R.  SMITH,  F.  C.  SCHAEFFER, 

WM.  M.  CARTER,     THOS.  FRANKLIN 

On  Public  Amusements. 
THOMAS  EDDY,         J.  M.  MATHEWS, 
A.  W.  IVES. 

On  Correspondence. 
JOHN  GRISCOM,         E.  LORD, 
C.  G.  HAINES,  CYRUS  PERKINS. 

On  Juvenile  Delinquency.* 
GEORGE  W.  WARNER,      ANSEL  W.  IVES, 
SAMUEL  MARSH,  CAVE  JONES, 

BENJAMIN  CLARK. 


